Mirza Ghalib’s 219 birth anniversary being celebrated today

The greatest Urdu poet of Sub-continen was born on December 27, 179 in Agra, India. His Delhi house is now called as Ghalib ki Haveli and hosts permanent Ghalib exhibition.

He descended from the family of Aibak Turks who originally hailed from central Asian countries and started poetry at a very early age of 11. The great poet initially used pen name “Asad” meaning lion but later replaced it with Ghalib which means superior.

Later on, in his lifetime Ghalib witnessed the downfall of Mughal dynasty in India and arrival of the Britishers. His ghazals and letters also carried a history of events of those times.

Mirza Asadullah was depicted in famous Bollywood movie “Ghalib” while his ghazals have been sung by legendary singers like Mehdi Hassan, Fareeda Khanum, Abida Perveen, Tina Sani and many others.

Ghalib’s was laid to rest in Nizamuddin area near mausoleum of renowned saint Nizamuddin Auliya.